Australia will consider selling uranium to India if it is convinced about New Delhi's commitment to follow global nuclear safeguards for its civilian atomic reactors, Prime Minister John Howard said.
Howard's comments came as he began a four-day visit to India late on Sunday, days after New Delhi and Washington sealed a landmark nuclear deal that is expected to give India access to the global market for fuel and reactors to meet its soaring energy needs.
Australia has almost half of the world's known uranium resources and is keen to increase exports but its policy rules out sales to countries like India which have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The issue was expected to figure high on the agenda of talks between the two sides as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he would ask his Australian counterpart to back the nuclear deal between New Delhi and Washington.
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